Resource Tag: CHOLESTEROL

This study investigated the associations between total serum cholesteral levels, violent & suicidal behavior, age of onset of the conduct disorder, & the age of death among 250 Finnish male criminal offenders with antisocial personality disorders. No associations were found between total serum cholesteral levels & a history of suicide attempts & slashing. Low total […]

This study examined biological correlates of suicidal behavior. In a sample of 111 suicide attempters admitted to a Greek general hospital, the authors studied the turnover of neurotransmitters by measuring the urinary output of the main metabolites of serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline & serum cholesterol, & compared them to 62 healthy controls. Urinary noradrenaline was significantly […]

The aim of this study was to examine whether (i) major depression is accompanied by lower serum HDL-C or by abnormal levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein-C or vitamin E; (ii) suicidal attempts are related to lower serum HDL-C and (iii) there are significant associations between serum HDL-C and immune/inflammatory markers. It was found […]

For the original article by J Brunner et al., please see SIEC #2002-0500

This study compared the serum cholesterol levels of Irish psychiatric inpatients with & without recent suicidal behavior. The characteristic of novelty seeking was analyzed as an intermediary variable. Of the 155 inpatients included, 34 had recently attempted suicide. Significantly lower average cholesterol levels were found in women who had attempted suicide before hospitalization than for […]

Because of the flood of biological data that has been reported in recent years, the challenge to the ordinary clinician has entailed both the effort to remain abreast of this rapidly growing body of technical information, & to determine its usefulness in the everyday task of patient evaluation, treatment & management. The present discussion addresses […]

In this paper, the relationship between serum cholestrol levels & mood disorders, physical violence & suicide attempts in Taiwanese psychiatric inpatients were reported. There were no significant differences in the serum cholestrol levels between patients with mania & major depression, between patients with & without physical violence, or between patients who had & had not […]

There is suggestive evidence that suicidal behaviour by itself may have biological correlates, regardless of which particular psychiatric illness it is associated with. Most of the available evidence concerns the neurotransmitter serotonin but there are also reports of deviations in other transmitters. This evidence is reviewed in this paper. The association of neuropeptides, cortisol, & […]

In this excerpt from the SIEC Current Awareness Bulletin, Dr. Tanney discusses the research that has been done on the effects of lowering serum cholesterol levels. Some studies have hypothesized a relationship between low cholesterol levels & increased suicides/traumatic deaths. Other studies have not found such a relationship.

After a short literature review concerning a possible relationship between lowered levels of serum cholesterol & suicidal behaviour, the results of a controlled group comparison of 11 depressed inpatients who died by violent suicide, with matched non-suicidal depressed patients & backpain patients, are reported. No significant differences were found between the groups with regard to […]

In this investigation of cholesterol levels & serious suicide attempts among psychiatric inpatients, the lifetime history of attempted suicide of 650 patients (307 men, 343 women, aged 18-59 years), was assessed by semistructured interview. Male patients with low cholesterol levels were twice as likely to have made a medically serious suicide attempt than men with […]

An excess mortality for violence (suicide & injuries) has been observed following the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. In this paper, a new hypothesis on the association among serum lipids, depression, & atherosclerosis is proposed. The hypothesis is based on epidemiologic evidence concerning these factors & on previous results concerning a cytokine, interleukin-2. Recent studies indicate […]

This Letter to Editor regarding an earlier article by J.M. Santiago & J.E. Dalen agrees that the current literature does not support a relationship between low or lower cholesterol levels & violent behaviour. But it disagrees with the need for further investigation. The authors respond noting that further studies are required to confirm the safety […]

Serum lipid levels in subgroups among 72 suicide attempters were studied. No significant correlations were found between total serum cholesterol & cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites. Serum lipids & scores on the Hopelessness Scale & the Suicidal Intent Scales were not significantly correlated. Violent attempters showed somewhat higher serum lipid levels. There was little support found […]

Changes in total cholesterol level were examined over a 6-year period in relation to subsequent 16-year mortality in a cohort of 5941 Japanese American men. The association of total cholesterol change with mortality was investigated with standard survival analysis techniques. The risk-factor-adjusted rate of all-cause mortality was 30% higher among subjects with a decline from […]

This article reviews studies of the relationship between low baseline cholesterol levels & mortality by violent means. A number of studies suggest that nutritional factors, & cholesterol in particular, may have an independent influence on the expression of violent & self-destructive behaviours. Relevance of these studies to suicide in the elderly is discussed. Poor nutrition […]

Evidence suggests that mortality from a variety of non-coronary heart diseases is elevated in persons with low or lowered serum cholesterol. Because such relationships may offset the anticipated health benefits, it is important to understand the physiologic changes occasioned by cholesterol modification. In this review, the focus is on one potential negative consequence, namely the […]

This article reports on a study of 220 children, ages 5-18 years, hospitalized with affective, adjustment, disruptive, anxiety, schizophrenic, other, & organic psychiatric disorders, to assess relationships of total plasma cholesterol (TC) & triglyceride (TG) values to suicide behaviors. The authors speculate that the associations between low TC level, high TG level, suicide tendency, & […]

This article reports on serum concentrations of total & free cholesterol & the esterified cholesterol ratio in 85 subjects. Depressed subjects & relatives of melancholic subjects had a significantly lower esterified cholesterol ratio than controls. No significant differences in total or free cholesterol concentrations were found between the study groups. Lower esterification in serum cholesterol […]

This study was conducted to determine whether total serum cholesterol concentration predicts mortality from injuries including suicide. A strong negative relation between cholesterol concentration & mortality from injuries was found in men during the first 7 years of follow up. In women no relation between cholesterol concentration & mortality from injuries was found. These findings […]

The hypothesis that a peaking of suicide deaths in males during the morning hours may be due to diurnal variation of serotonin & decreasing serotonergic-mediated inhibition of dopamine is discussed in this letter. Supporting evidence includes: a link between low serum cholesterol & suicide; importance of dopamine in the control of wakefulness manifested by a […]

The authors report on a 28-year follow-up study in which they studied the association of cholesterol concentration & death caused by violence, accidents, or suicide. Based on a general health survey in 1953-54 among 2,945 middle-aged Dutch civil servants & spouses, more support was found for the hypothesis that long-term exposure to low serum cholesterol […]